California
by HauntedSilver
Summary: In which the war is over, and Adam drags the gang to the one place that will always remind him of One. Adam/One, Sam/Six


**Summary: In which the war is over, and Adam drags the gang to the one place that will always remind him of One. Adam/One Sam/Six**

**A/N: This was produced because I really just wanted to send Adam to California because of One. But I also just wanted a happy story where they're done fighting and Adam is accepted by the Garde. Basically, this is me shoving all of my favourite characters into a truck (minus Eight) and shipping them off to California. **

**Also, I started this before the Fall of Five came out, so we're just going to pretend Eight never died. Or comes back somehow. Idk, I'm too angsty to figure it out.**

* * *

Setrákus Ra's body crumbles into dust, dissolving into a pile on the ground. The other Mogdorians are fighting, but there aren't many left. They're all trueborn.

The floor trembles under my feet. I stop moving, slowly lifting one foot. I didn't think I was using my Legacy, but I was so caught up in fighting my own kind that maybe I didn't notice.

I calm down for a second, trying to channel memories of a sunny California beach and One's smile: her feet in the surf and her hair blowing over one shoulder. Dust, in hawk form, lands on my shoulder. I've calmed down, but now the walls are shaking too.

Six stabs the last trueborn and he dissipates. The building is shaking so hard that chunks of ceiling are coming loose.

"We have to get out of here!" Number Seven screams, racing for the doors. Number Eight disappears and reappears holding them open. We're all scrambling to get to the doors.

Sam and I pile into the truck after Four and Six hops in next to us. Nine jumps on the back. Four turns the key and the speed climbs to a hundred and twenty. I look through the back window and watch as the building crumbles, taking what might be the last of my kind with it. I'm not sorry.

Nine slides open the partition to the back of the truck so he can talk to us. "Well, good job and all that. I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna miss kicking Mog ass." He glances at me. "Good thing I've still got you, right Adam?" Six glares at him and Sam balls his fists. "Kidding!" Nine says, reaching in to grab my shoulder. "Adam and I are bros."

"Right," I say, trading places with Six so he can't reach me. Sam blushes when she wriggles into the spot next to him. I grin at him when he mouths 'thanks' and shoot him the thumbs up. After all he's been through, he deserves to get the girl.

At least one of us should, anyway.

I look out the window. Number Eight's driving the van beside us, and I catch Number Seven in the passenger seat and Number Ten —Ella— waving at me. I wave back hesitantly and she smiles. We're going faster, so I lose sight of them.

Four finally opens his mouth. "I can't believe it's over."

"Me either," Sam says. The truck is only made to seat three, so Sam and Six and I are all squished up between Four and the door. Six is partially on Sam's lap, and while I think none of the Garde are totally comfortable with me yet, Six is pretty good about treating me like I'm not a freak —especially since her scars are some of the worst.

Sam is the best with me. It might be because I rescued him from the Mogadorian prison, or because we're the only ones that aren't Loric. Either way, I feel a lot closer with him than anyone else.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Six asks. "I mean, we've spent our whole lives running and fighting, and now there's nothing left to fight."

Nine snorts. "Isn't it obvious? We're supposed to go back to Lorien."

"We don't have a ship yet," Six points out.

"And Lorien is still a mess," Four says.

I stare out the window again so I won't see them looking at me and try not to feel bad.

"Well, I don't know about you guys," Nine says, a grin steadily growing on his face. "but I definitely deserve a vacation."

"To where?" Sam fiddles with the radio, trying to see if he can get any sound out of it.

The idea jumps in my head so fast I don't even think about it. "California,"

* * *

We're going so fast that the roadsigns blur. I keep looking out the window anyway, hoping to see one that says California.

Sam finally got the radio working, and it's blaring some pop song about a girl. Six is sitting silently with her arms crossed, and Nine got bored of us sitting in here without talking, so he's turned around in the bed of the truck so his back is to us. All I can see of him is his broad shoulders and black hair whipping in the wind. Four is focused on the road.

Sam is the only one that isn't acting sullen. He taps his fingers on the dash to the beat of the song and looks out the window every so often, smiling when he catches my gaze. The song on the radio changes to one Sam knows, and he turns it up so loud that even Nine winces.

"So Adam," Nine yells over the sound of the radio. Sam's singing along, but he doesn't know all the words. "why California anyway?"

I tense, but a part of me was expecting this. Six shifts in her seat, pulling her knees up and pressing her shoulder against Sam's so she's turned toward me. Sam stops dancing so chaotically when she leans against him.

"I just...it was somewhere One liked. And I wanted to see it for myself." And it was so clear in my memories I felt like I'd lived there too. For some reason I was so sure everything would be okay for good if I could make it to California.

Six shoots me a sympathetic look. Four is still staring straight ahead.

"Plus all the hot babes, right?" Nine winks at me.

"Sure, Nine." I say, but he's already focused on the idea of all the girls that will be in California.

"I can see them now: all blonde and tan and wearing string bikinis." He looks at Six, staring her up and down as much as he can through the tiny window. "You should dye your hair blonde again, Six. You'd fit right in."

Six punches him.

Nine pulls back, rubbing his arm. "Hey, I never said you had to strip off all your clothes and go swimming." He complains.

Six rolls her eyes, leaning her head on Sam's shoulder so she's not looking at him. Thankfully, the song ended, so Sam doesn't smash her in the face by mistake.

"Seriously though, guys. If we're going to Cali we're gonna need swimsuits."

"I'm sorry, Nine. Do you see a Target anywhere?" Four grumbles.

Nine holds up his hands in defense. "I'm just saying."

"Swimsuits are probably a good idea," I admit, and Six agrees.

"Eight doesn't know where we're going," Four says. "Sam, can you message them— actually, Nine, do you think the macrocosm would work?"

Nine grunts. "I can try." He opens his Chest, pulling out a red stone. I wonder if One had one of those, but I push it out of my head. It still hurts to think about her.

"Hello? Marina? Ella? Eight?"

"Hi," A girl's voice answers. It's Ella, even though I'm pretty sure Number Seven —Marina— is the one with the macrocosm.

"Tell Eight we're going to California."

"Why there? Is that where the other ship is?"

"Adamus here," Nine jerks his thumb at me, even though it's obvious she can't see us. "is being all nostalgic and thinks we should go there."

"Adamus?" Ella responds, like she's never heard my real name. "Oh, right." There's a pause. "There isn't a Mog base in California, is there?"

Nine glances at me.

"No,"

"No," He repeats. "It's 'cause of his Loric brain transplant shit. Just tell Eight." Nine puts the macrosom back in his Chest and cracks his knuckles.

"Are you sure there aren't any Mogs in Cali?" He asks.

"There aren't. It's a bad place to blend in. Especially for the scouts."

Nine laughs like I've made a joke. "No shit. Not exactly a place for black trench coats." He laughs harder. "The Mogs must've been sweating their asses off in those things."

Six reaches over and taps Four's knee. "Hey, you know what is in California?"

"Disneyland?"

"Disneyland." She eases back into her spot. "We can go to the happiest place on earth before we go back for that ship in New Mexico."

Four grins. "Yeah and you can finally ride Space Mountain."

Six stiffens. "There's no way you're getting me on that."

"Hell yeah I am. Sam, you'll help me right?"

"Sam, you're on my side, right?"

"Um—" Sam starts.

"Sam and I have been friends longer," Four protests.

"So what? He likes me better."

"You're delusional, Six." Four is grinning. I'm smiling too. It's nice to not be on the run and to listen Four and Six bicker like they've been friends forever. The good mood inside here is kind of infectious.

"Who thought he was Pittacus Freaking Lore?" Nine yells from the back.

"Shut up, Nine! Sam, seriously, we will be exacting justice to the universe. Six needs this."

"Sam, if you help me I'll kiss you!" Six says.

"I'm on Six's side!" Sam yells so quickly that I burst out laughing. Four is laughing too, and for a second I'm a little worried we're going to crash.

"Yes!" Six throws her arms around Sam as best as she can in the truck. "Take that, Four!"

He grumbles, but I think we can all tell he's trying not to grin.

* * *

"We need gas," Four says. "Sam, can you watch for a gas station?"

Sam —who is currently playing with Six's hair— glances up, a little startled since the truck has been silent for so long. Six actually fell asleep, which seems odd for someone who's so on-guard all the time. "Sure—"

"I can do it," I offer. "I'm by the window anyway."

Sam looks a little disappointed that he doesn't get to do the job for some reason, but then he gets it and smiles at me. "Thanks, Adam."

I shrug. It's not exactly universe-saving stuff.

We roll through another town after about five minutes. "There," I say, and Four turns into the lot.

Six has woken up, and as soon as the truck's parked, she's unbuckled her seatbelt. "Go," She says, giving me a nudge, like being in the car for any longer will kill her.

I open the door, and she half scrambles over me to get out. Sam jumps after her.

"Ah," Six stretches her arms over her head and then works on her legs. "Road trips kinda suck," She says, partially bent to stretch out her leg, black hair falling over her thighs.

I shrug. "It's a lot easier to be in a car than to jump from train station to bus and hope you're not being chased by scouts."

Six smiles, like the idea of me also getting chased by Mogadorians makes me more appealing.

"I kinda like road trips," Sam says. He nudges Six with his elbow. "You have to admit, that one from Paradise was fun. You and me and Four and the road." He smiles a little nostalgically.

Four looks on-edge as he pumps gas.

"What is it?" Six asks.

"Nothing. It's just, the last time I was on the road with Nine and we stopped at a gas station..." Four scratches the back of his head. "We ended up fighting a bunch of truckers to save a couple of hitchikers."

"Come on, that was fun," Nine says, appearing from behind a gas pump. Four looks relieved, like he thought Nine had run off to rescue some squirrels from a couple of bikers.

Nine yawns. "I'm gonna go get some snacks."

"Take Six with you!" Four yells a bit shrilly. Nine snorts and Six rolls her eyes.

"I can go," I say. Sometimes I feel like I have to do all the little tasks to make up for my race, I guess. Or prove that I'm on their side, which is kinda stupid because I already helped them kill Setrákus Ra. Maybe I have a complex or something. If One was still here, she'd be making fun of me. I picture her face in my head. She's rolling her eyes at me. "You have a Legacy. You're pretty much a Garde anyway. Unless you want to be an errand boy."

But she's not in my head anymore. My Legacy is proof of that.

"It's okay, I can do it." Six says, shooting me a smile. "Come on, Nine."

"Seriously, Johnny? I don't need a babysitter." He looks Six up and down. "Although—"

She punches Nine in the gut. I stifle a laugh. It reminds me of One's memory of punching a cheerleader in the face. I can't help thinking that One would really like Six, if she were still here.

But she's not. She's in heaven, or California somewhere, or maybe she's just gone.

Four finishes pumping gas, and goes in to pay.

Sam puts a hand on my shoulder. "You okay, man?"

"I'll be fine," It'll be easier to let go of One if I'm back in her favourite place —a place I've never been to, but remember as strongly as my own memories.

Six and Nine come back, loaded up with candy and chips. Six is chewing on licorice and she tosses Sam a Caramilk bar, Mars bar, and a plastic bag full of blue candies that are shaped like some kind of fish or whale.

"Just like old times," Sam says when he catches the candy. He's grinning, like it's the most amazing thing ever that she remembered his favourite candy.

Six stands in front of me. "I wasn't really sure what you liked, so I just got you Sour Keys." She hands me a plastic bag of candies so coated in sugar that there's a pile of it in the bottom of the bag.

I gape at them. I didn't expect her to get me anything. "Um, thanks."

Six is still standing in front of me. "If you hate them I can just go get something else."

"No, it's fine. I've just never had Sour Keys before."

"Really?" Nine demands. He's got a pile of chips in his hand.

I shrug. "The General never gave us money, and he didn't want us to get distracted by things the humans did. But I didn't really care. Normal Earth food is a lot better than the slop they served us on Mogadore."

"I thought they only fed that to captive Garde," Six says, and her face contorts at the memory of Mogadorian meals.

"Are you talking about the grilled cheese? Because—"

"Grilled cheese? No, it was this nasty tasteless sludge. They gave me cake once, when they were trying to kill me. It was delicious."

"Better than licorice?" Sam teases.

"Better than Caramilk and Mars bars." She says. "Nothing is better than licorice." To prove her point, Six sticks another piece in her mouth.

I'm smiling again. I never thought hanging out with the Garde would be this fun.

* * *

"Four! Four! Pull over!"

"What, Nine?" He growls, but listens anyway.

Nine grins, sticking his finger through the window to point at whatever it is he's on about. "Target."

"Let me park before you jump out of the truck screaming," Four grumbles, rolling his eyes and shifting the car into reverse so he can get into the lot.

The second he parks, Nine jumps out screaming. I'm pretty sure he did it to screw with Four.

I open the door, and Six is right on my heels again. She stretches her arms above her head. "Let's go get some swimsuits, then."

Sam blushes when she says that, which makes Four laugh and punch his shoulder. I start to follow, but something occurs to me.

"We don't have any money,"

"Oh, right." Four stalks back to the truck and pulls out a bank card. "I finally got around to figuring out how to open that account myself."

"We should tell Marina and Eight that we're here," Six points out.

"Or not," Sam says, pointing to the van that's pulling into the lot.

"How did you know we'd be here?" Four asks.

"Marina wanted Starbucks and we saw the truck," Eight explains with a shrug. "What are we doing here?"

"Buying swimsuits," Nine states, apparently having run back from the store. He winks at Sarah. "And I found the perfect one for you."

"For California?" Ella demands. "Can we go surfing? I've always wanted to try surfing."

Marina smiles. "Me too,"

A pang goes through my chest. Surfing. It had to be surfing.

"Yeah, great, but first we need to get you girls some bikinis!" Nine yells, clapping his hands. "Let's go ladies,"

Six scowls at him. "Just for that, you will never ever see me in a bikini."

"Six!"

Six rolls her eyes and grabs Sam's hand. She drags him towards the Target and Marina and Ella are right behind her. Eight trots after them, looping his arm around Marina.

It's weird seeing them all so deliriously happy —no fighting, or battle plans, or training sessions. Six, Nine and Four are the only ones looking over their shoulders, but Six hasn't let go of Sam's hand and Four is kissing Sarah.

When we walk in Marina is rifling through the swimsuits seriously while Eight chases Ella around with a water gun.

"Eight—" Marina starts, but he shoots her.

She stares at the splash of water on her stomach like it's a bloodstain and then looks at him in shock, like she's trying to figure out when he filled it with water.

"Oops, sorry Marina—"

"Eight!" She drops her swimsuits and chases after him. Ella giggles and joins in.

I glance at the others, trying to figure out if running around stores with loaded water-guns is something they normally do.

John is wearing his stern leader face, which makes Sarah laugh and kiss his cheek, which makes him smile. Six is grinning, and grabs a gun to join in the fight. She tosses one to Sam and tells him to fill it up. Nine follows her lead.

They run around shooting each other and I'm starting to think they'll get thrown out of the store when Number Eight throws his hands in the air.

"Okay, you got me," He laughs. Ella drops her gun with a smile. Her hair is soaking wet and there are splash marks on the back of her t-shirt.

"Good," Number Se- Marina says, picking up Ella's gun and putting it back on the display. "Now we came here to get swimsuits, so we're going to get swimsuits." She pauses when she takes Eight's gun. "Did they come with water in them?"

"This one did," Six says, setting hers back on display. "to show how much it can hold, I think."

Number Seven shakes her head. "Okay. Well, no more water fights until we get there."

Eight fake-pouts.

I follow Sam over to the small collection of guy swimsuits. "Are they always like this?"

He shrugs. "When they're not fighting. Or training." He picks up a pair of blue shorts and then stops. "No, I lied. They're like this when they train too."

He makes me nostalgic for training sessions I never witnessed.

"How about these?" Sam holds up a pair of boardshorts with spaceships all over them.

I laugh. "They're perfect, dude."

Four trots over and laughs at Sam's choice.

Sam grins and holds up a matching pair in green. "We could be matching, John."

Snickering, Four holds up his hands. "I'm good, man."

"Looking good, Six!" Nine calls from across the store, and there's the distinct sound of a hand smacking flesh. "Ow!"

Nine appears a few moments later, holding his cheek. "She wasn't even wearing it," he grumbles, and we all trade looks

and smirk at his expense. Sam opens his mouth like he's about to announce that he's going to check on Six, but changes his mind.

We're pretty quick to grab swim trunks and get out of that section when Nine starts debating the purchase of a speedo.

"Hey," Sam greets when we find the girls. Six is holding a black swimsuit that's all one piece -true to her word of not letting Nine see her in a bikini- and tapping her foot impatiently.

"They're taking forever!" She gripes, gesturing at the racks the other girls are circling.

"No, we're not!" S-Marina shouts back. She trots over, holding up a green bikini and a blue one. "Okay, which one? Ella likes the blue, but I'm not sure..."

Eight puts a finger to his mouth, pretending to scrutinize the swimsuits before grinning. "Get the green, we can match." He shows her the green trunks he managed to grab in the ten seconds between him wandering to the guy's section and Nine asking us our opinion on "the hottest swimsuit ever".

"Okay," Marina beams, putting the other one back.

Sarah skips over. "I'm gonna try these on again, does someone wanna come with?"

"I will!" John volunteers so fast that Sam smirks at me.

"Again?" Six groans.

"Well, yeah, but I narrowed it down to the pink or the red." Sarah grins, winking at Six. "Be back in a sec!"

Six groans even loader.

"Thinking about me in this lady magnet, Six?" Nine materializes, holding the speedo.

Six makes a disgusted face. "I'd rather picture you dead."

"Well, now I have to get it!"

"Ugh," Six walks off, Sam in tow.

I wince. "Please don't."

Nine grins and scruntinizes his choice some more. That's about the last straw for me, and I follow Sam and Six to the cash registers.

"Get sick of Nine?" Sam asks.

"He's easy to get sick of," I reply, and am rewarded with a rare laugh from Six.

Eight and Seven join us, Ella on their heels -which means there's a good chance Nine is right behind them.

"Is Sarah still in the change room?" Six demands exasperatedly.

Marina nods. "I don't think John is much help."

Sam smirks. "He's probably just drooling over Sarah in a bikini."

"She is pretty hot," Nine agrees, trotting over. "You guys should have seen her." He whistles.

Marina attempts to cover Ella's ears, scowling at Nine.

"Ew, Nine. Were you over there?" Six shoots him a disgusted look.

"Nine!" Four growls, stalking towards us with Sarah on his heels.

Nine laughs, holding his hands up defensively. "What? It's not like I was in the change room. And you'll all be wearing your swimsuits soon anyway."

"He has a point," Eight says, and Marina shoots him a look. "What?"

"Whatever, let's just go." Six says, dumping her swimsuit on the conveyer belt. Sam copies her. She puts a few other things on, too, like sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses. Marina gathered up a bunch of towels on the way to the register, and she piles them on the conveyer.

The cashier blanches a little at Nine's speedo, and half of our group shudders. I notice Four puts an extra pair of board shorts on the belt before paying.

"Have a nice day," the cashier says, still a little pale from Nine's purchase.

"You too," Four says as the door swings shut behind us.

We pile back into our respective vehicles, Sarah giving Four a quick kiss before jumping into the van.

I think about making Six take the window seat because she's always the first one out anyway, but she's already seated next to Four.

I guess the window seat is mine forever, now.

Sam rifles through the glove box until he finds a map of California. He tries to spread it out on his lap. "Okay, Adam, where are we going?"

I blink, staring at the map, trying to summon up One's memories. All I have is the name, I have no idea exactly where it is. "Um, can I borrow this for a sec?"

I spend the next fifteen minutes scouring the map until I find the town One used to live in. "Here,"

It's not that far away. Another hour, maybe.

"Perfect," Sam says, and he and Six start giving directions to Four.

Not long.

I close my eyes and I fall asleep.

* * *

"I'm gonna miss this place," One's sitting on the beach, hands curled around her knees. Her hair whips over her shoulder.

I sit down next to her. "What do you mean?"

She looks at me and smiles. "Thank you, Adam."

"For what?"

"For remembering me," She gazes out across the ocean. "For loving me," I think she says, but it's so quiet I might have imagined it.

My tongue is too heavy in my mouth to speak.

One turns and stares at me. Her face is pensive and maybe nostalgic. "I missed you." Her voice is tinged with sadness.

I reach for her hand. "I miss you more."

She shakes her head and smiles and the waves turn purple.

* * *

"Adam!"

Sam's shaking me.

I groan, pulling my face off the window. "Are we almost there?" I rub my eye.

"We're here," Four nods, switching gears to park. Six decides to run out his side this time, which is nice.

Groggily, I push my door open, glad Six isn't shoving me out the door. Sam hops down after me.

Marina and Sarah are already outside the van.

"You have the swimsuits, right?" Sarah asks.

"Yup," Four says, and something in his voice seems off. He glances over at Nine as he jumps put of the truck bed.

"Alright," Nine says, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Let's get this party started."

* * *

We change in some public washrooms on the beach. Nine's speedo is missing, and I'm 98% sure Four either threw it out the window on the way here or flushed it down the toilet. I know it was him because when Nine freaks out and asks where it is, he conveniently happens to have an extra and hands it over with a knowing smile.

Yeah, he threw it out the window. It probably hit the windshield of some unsuspecting driver and caused a minor crash.

As bad as that is, it's better than Nine in a speedo.

Sam and I are done before Nine, so we get to watch him storm out of his stall, scowling and grumbling that a speedo would be more comfortable. We exchange a look. Eight laughs and cracks a joke I don't really understand. No one laughs, but Four smiles a bit and Nine stands up a little straighter.

Four claps a hand on Nine's shoulder. "Come on, the girls are probably waiting."

Total. Lie.

The girls are not waiting. Not even Six is changed yet.

We stand outside and I can hear Sarah laughing and the odd scuffling of feet. After a good five minutes, they emerge. Ella's hair is dripping wet, for some reason.

Six is slathering sunscreen on her arms when she walks over to Sam and I. I guess she's done the rest of her body because she tosses it at me. "Here. You'll probably need this."

I somehow manage to catch it, but I almost drop it. "Actually, Mogadorians are immune to UV rays."

Nine blanches. "Really?"

I shake my head, popping open the sunscreen cap. "Total lie." Four grins at that and it occurs to me that I can't use Mogadorian in the plural anymore. I'm the last one. There aren't any more. And there won't be anymore after I die.

Somehow, Four picks up on this. He claps a hand on my shoulder. "You're one of us, now."

I manage a smile. I hated my race, anyway.

"Can I have that after you?" Sam asks, glancing at the sky anxiously. He's almost as pale as me, so it's no surprise.

I hand over the sunscreen.

"Okay, we've wasted enough time standing around, let's go!" Sarah cheers, the bun on her head bobbing as she pushes Seven and Eight into action. Ella happily trots after her.

Six smirks, following after. "How many minutes with the Garde to you think it'll take for that bun to just fall right off her head?" She muses as Nine runs after the others.

Sam smiles and takes Six's hand -a move I didn't think he'd be brave enough to make until later in the day. Way to go, Sam. "Probably two," he says. "I'm betting on Eight starting a water fight and who knows what Nine'll do."

The others reach the water. Sarah's huge blonde bun is piled right on the top of her head and moves with every step.

Eight grabs Marina around the waist and drags her into the water. She screams and swats at his arms. He shrugs and drops her in.

Four tries to suppress a laugh. It is pretty funny, but we all know he's getting a huge lecture when she resurfaces.

Except she doesn't.

I start counting. Two minutes. No one can hold their breath that long without being trained.

"Um, is she okay?"

"Oh, he doesn't know." Six says.

"Know what?" I'm more than a little concerned now.

"Marina can breathe underwater." Ella beams.

"Oh." I feel stupid, but it's not something I could've known.

Suddenly Eight screams, falling into the water. Marina pops out of the waves, smiling vengefully.

Ella giggles and races towards her.

"I'll race you to the dock, John." Six challenges.

Four pulls away from Sarah. "You're on," he grins. Nine decides to be the starting whistle, but I think maybe that's due to the trio of girls strutting by. He trots after them the second Four and Six hit the water.

Sarah sidles over to us. "Who do you think will win?"

"Six," Sam says automatically. Sarah laughs and hits his shoulder playfully.

"Of course you think she'll win. You worship the ground she walks on." She looks at me. "What about you, Adam?"

I start slightly. I'm still not totally used to them talking to me, but Sarah is probably the most welcoming. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go with Six."

She smiles. "If I wasn't dating John, I'd probably vote for her too." She turns back to the beach. Six and Four are already halfway to the dock.

"Come on, Six." Sam says under his breath. They're neck in neck.

What looks like three meters from the dock, Six pulls ahead. She climbs on the dock triumphantly, laughing and pushing Four back into the water when he tries to join her.

Sarah suddenly grabs Sam's wrist and starts pulling. "Come on, I'm not gonna let you guys stand here and miss all the fun."

"I don't think this sunscreen is waterproof!" Sam argues.

"Sam! That's such a lie!" Sarah manages to drag Sam knee-deep into the water. He stops fighting her and she smiles. "There. Go have a water fight with Eight or something." Sarah turns towards me, grinning wickedly. "Your turn, Adam!" She calls.

It doesn't register until she's started towards me.

I hold up my hands like I can ward her off. "I'm okay."

Her grin grows.

"No, really," I take a step backwards. "I'd really rather not."

One would scoff and laugh at me and tell me to stop being such a baby and just get in already.

Sarah is two meters away now. I scramble to put more distance between us.

"Nice try, Adam, but you're going to get in the water and you're going to have the time of your life."

"Don't be such a killjoy, Adam." I imagine One saying in my mind. It doesn't sound right -more like an echo than her actual voice.

I blink, a thought occurring to me, and send a tiny tremor in Sarah's direction. It's not enough to knock her over, but it does stop her in her tracks.

She tries to take a step, but I shake the ground under her again. It's harder to concentrate it and keep it going on sand. There's actual earth underneath it, but the sand makes my brain feel fuzzy.

With a sigh, I let it go. Sarah stumbles when the shaking stops, and then looks at me in shock. "Did you do that?"

"It was in self-defense!" I cry.

She laughs and then her expression suddenly goes dark. "I really have to get you now." She says, taking a step forward.

I scramble backward. "No, wait-"

Too late. Sarah lunges, knocking me down and grabbing my wrist. "Gotcha!" She tries to tug me to my feet. I raise an eyebrow at her. Sarah sighs, her whole body slumping. "Can you just stand up, please?"

I shake my head, managing to get to my feet with Sarah holding my wrist.

"Good," she smiles. "Now come on." While she's not strong enough to pull me up when I don't want her to, she does manage to yank me towards the water.

"How did you get so strong?" I ask, hoping to distract her while I try to think of an escape.

Sarah glances back at me, smiling. "Cheer."

"Ch-cheerleading?" My voice goes a little too high. My body goes limp.

Sarah frowns at me. "What? You don't think-"

One's fist connects with a satisfying crunch. The girl stumbles backward, holding her face. She jerks her head around, ponytail flying, to glare at One. "You-"

"Adam?"

I snap out of it.

Sarah's staring at me in concern. I inhale sharply. "Um, fine, I just..." Same blonde hair, same head shape. I freeze. "Did you ever get punched in the face by a blonde girl?"

Sarah laughs. "What?"

"Nevermind," Sarah's too nice, and it was a really flimsy connection to make. There are probably thousands of blonde cheerleaders across America.

"Okay," Sarah's forehead wrinkles. She yanks my wrist again. I'm caught off-guard and end up stumbling into the waves.

"Hey!" I protest.

Sarah shoves me.

I'm still off-balance, so of course I fall on my butt, managing to get pretty soaked from the shoulders down.

Sarah grins. "And no, I was never punched in the face by a blonde girl."

I send a tremor under her feet again, then grab her arm and pull her down with me.

Sarah's bun -now soaking wet- slides off the side of her head. She chuckles darkly. "Oh-h-h-h-ho. I'm gonna get you for that, Adam."

She splashes me. The water slaps me in the face, effectively getting my face pretty wet. I'm shocked for a second, but then I retaliate, shoving the water at her with two hands.

Pretty soon we're running deeper and deeper, splashing and stumbling and getting each other soaked. Four appears and tries to grab Sarah around the waist, but she splashes him right in the face. His stunned expression makes us both burst into laughter, and pretty soon we've teamed up against him.

Sarah commandeers a pair of water guns (I'm pretty sure she stole them from a nearby family, actually) and starts shooting John. She tosses one to me and commands me to "cover her" while she refills her gun. It's kind of a sad request because Four has no gun and apparently no Legacies that work in water, but I do it anyway -circling Sarah and pumping the gun so that it douses Four in water.

Four takes a step forward, ready to attack. I pump the gun again, but only a weak trickle of water comes out, falling and smacking the lake without hitting Four at all. "Sarah," I call, warning her of my lack of ammunition.

"Done!" She cries, thrusting her water gun up from beneath the water, shooting Four for all she's worth. I plunge my own gun into the lake, watching it bubble anxiously as it refills.

The two of us start blasting Four on alternating strikes, so that he's perpetually shot by streams of water. He tries running and diving under the water, but eventually surrenders to our water gun ruthlessness.

Sarah laughs, shooting him one last time in the face before high-fiving me. It's an utterly human gesture, one I've seen Sam, Four and Eight do a lot, but it's not something my people ever did.

Not something I'd ever done, until now.

When she held up her hand, I'd hesitated.

"You okay, Adam?" Four asks. Sarah is shooting me a concerned look. I nod, trying to shake off my thoughts. They've gone too deep again.

"Hey!" Nine calls from the beach. "Did we bring any food?"

* * *

Four uses his debit card to buy us more hot dogs than we need and some overpriced drinks from a snack shack on the beach. Satisfied, Nine decides that he has to start building a fire -even though the sun is still high in the sky and we haven't discussed how long we'll be staying here.

"Seriously, Nine?" Sam calls, standing in the surf with waves smacking his calves.

Nine yells something about surviving in the wild, and Sam shakes his head. "There's literally a snack shack right there. And an ice-cream shop! This isn't the wilderness!"

Sarah and Seven come out of the water to watch Nine's progress. He winks at them. "Don't worry, ladies. Master of the wilderness is here to protect you."

Sarah rolls her eyes. "Oh, Master of the wilderness, save me. I am so helpless." She stalks over to her stolen water guns and shoots Nine in the face.

He splutters. "Now the wood is all wet! How do you expect me to build a fire like this?"

"No one asked you to build a fire, Nine." Seven reminds him.

"Shh," He hushes angrily, trying to make a teepee out of the wood but failing miserably. We watch him until the third wood collapse, and then head back to the water.

"Race you to the docks?" Sam suggests.

It hits me then. I used to dream of going to the beach with my family, of challenging Ivan to see who could swim farther. Of a family that was more than killing the innocent.

One had scoffed at this idea -had told me how stupid it was that my race was killing hers and all I wanted was a beach barbeque. That was the point where I realized she was in my head as much as I was in hers.

But now here I am, on the very beach where she once surfed, with the very race mine tried to exterminate.

Her race.

"Sure," I say, and I smile because this moment, this beach, these people...this is what happiness is.

Not cardboard daydreams of a family that never would have accepted my true purpose.

Sam grins and we plunge into the water. I climb onto the dock before him, and he scrambles up after me moments later. We sit with our legs dangling in the water.

"I'm glad you're here," He says, breaking the silence.

"Me too,"

He looks at me sideways. "Did I ever thank you for saving my life?"

I try to remember, but Sam's rescue is mostly a rush of fighting and buildings crumbling and Malcom's voice and the surety that I would survive. There's another moment in there too: the look on Sam's face when he'd first seen me -the way his eyes had widened when he'd realized what I was, the way he'd looked at me when I'd set him free.

"I don't remember," I admit at last.

"Well, thanks Adam." Sam bumps my shoulder with his. "Rematch back to shore?"

He dives in before I can respond, and I'm forced to chase after him. We reach the beach at the same time, and are greeted with the noise of tumbling wood and Nine's cries of frustration.

Sarah and Seven are standing side by side, watching Nine struggle with the fire. Six and Eight are trying to drown each other in the water -which is hard because one can teleport and shapeshift, and the other can turn invisible. Four and Ella are sitting in the surf, finishing off the last of the hotdogs.

"I give up," Nine snarls. Four turns when he hears this, and, smiling, sends a burst of fire to the pit Nine is crouching beside.

Nine scowls. "Show-off," He mutters, stalking towards the water.

Sarah's eye light up. "John! Can we get marshmallows?"

"Good idea. Sam, do you wanna come with me?"

Sarah enlists Six and Seven to help her find marshmallow sticks. Ella frowns slightly, torn between helping them and making sure Nine is okay.

Sarah decides for her. "Adam! Ella! Come help us!"

I've never had marhsmallows before, so I stick with Six and Sarah. "Are we looking for a certain type of stick, or?"

Sarah laughs. "You were one of those people with those expensive roasting sticks, weren't you?"

"You can buy sticks?" I ask, confused. I know humans do dumb stuff sometimes, but buying tree branches in stores seems a little ridiculous.

Sarah laughs. "No, the ones you buy are metal. But it's so much better with actual sticks, you know?" Sarah tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, reaching for something on the ground. "Like this," She holds a long stick out to me. All the branches have been broken off, and it's about the length of my arm.

When we get back, the five of us are armed with nine sticks that Sarah has deemed good for roasting marshmallows. Sam and Four are sitting around their little fire with four bags of what I assume are marshmellows. Nine has a bag all to himself, and is taking white things from the bag and shoving them in his mouth.

"Isn't it a little early for marshmallows?" Sam asks when we sit down with him. "It's not even dark yet."

"It's never too early for marshmallows," Sarah says at the same time that Six says "The sun'll set in an hour."

"Who votes we wait?" Four queries.

Seven is the first to raise her hand. "I thought it would be nice if we could all watch the sunset together." She admits. Eight nods, raising his hand as well. Sam -insistant that marshmallows are for nighttime- thrusts his hand in the air. Six also raises her hand, but I think she mostly does it because of Sam.

"And who votes we eat them now?" Sarah's fingers shoot into the air, and Ella also puts her hand up.

Four turns to me. "What about you, Adam?"

"Uh, I've never had marshmallows before, so it doesn't really matter to me."

"See? You can't let him eat his first marshmallow when it's light outside, John." Sam insists. He claps a hand on my back. "Trust me, it's better this way."

Four extinguishes the fire, and we all head back to the shore. Nine is still sitting with his butt in the waves, and Eight sits down beside him. Ella plops down on Nine's other side, and Seven seats herself beside Eight, entwining her fingers with his. Pretty soon all the Garde are sitting in order, Ten all the way down to Six, then Four, then Sarah, then Sam. I end up next to Sam, and I can't help thinking that the space beside me is where One would have sat, if she were here.

Except if she were here, I might not be.

Miraculously, no one gets up. We wait out the sunset. It comes just when Six said it would, and we watch it in silence. It almost feels like we're all frozen in time.

The sky turns pink as the sun drops, ever lower, behind the distant mountains. The waves lap our feet. It's soundless, save for the gentle crashes of the water on the shore.

Eventually the great golden orb falls behind the mountains, and the pink of the sky begins to darken. Four helps Sarah to her feet, and the two of them get the fire started. The rest of us trail after.

"We need chairs," Eight observes.

"Nope!" Sarah responds, as cheerful as usual. With Nine's help, she manages to wrangle enough rocks for us to sit on, and somehow gets her hands on a log. Sam, Sarah, John and I sit on the log immediately.

"Here," Sarah passes me the marshmallows. "You should be first."

I take the bag, even though I'm pretty sure Seven and Eight have never had marshmallows either. "Thanks,"

Sarah giggles as I hold the marshmallow in my hand in confusion. Eight, Six and Sam have already jammed theirs onto sticks and are holding them out to the fire.

"Here," Sarah offers, stabbing my marshmallow for me. "If you put it down there it'll cook faster," She gestures toward a spot at the base of the flames and shoves a marshmallow in her mouth, grinning.

I watch Sam roast his to get some indication of how this is supposed to be done. He rotates his marshmallow constantly, and grins when parts of it turn light brown. I try to imitate what he's doing, but end up moving my marshmallow into the flames. I jerk my stick up out of the fire, but it's too late. My marshmallow is ablaze.

Sarah laughs, grabs my stick and blows out the fire. "There," she lets go. "They don't taste as good burnt, though. You can start over if you want."

"They taste delicious burnt!" Nine cries in indignation, waving his own burning marshmallow for emphasis.

Sam shakes his head, plucking his caramel-coloured marshmallow off of his stick and stuffing it in his mouth.

I glance at the others. Seven roasts her marshmallows with more concentration than Sam and I combined. Ella burns one and gives it to Nine. Eight tries to throw several raw marshmallows into his own mouth, dropping most of them on the ground.

I take a bite of my marshmallow, and -burnt shell and all- it's the sweetest thing I've ever tasted.

* * *

The waves lap my toes. The other are still sitting around the fire: Six has a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and has taken my seat next to Sam, who is still devotedly roasting marshmallows; Seven has fallen asleep on Eight's shoulder; Sarah and John are walking along the beach in the distance, holding hands.

I breathe out shakily, turning my gaze to the stars. The sky here looks different than it did in Washington. It looks different than anywhere else I've been. The stars aren't as bright here, but somehow it makes them more beautiful.

A breeze rustles my hair, sending a chill across my shoulder. I can feel her there -as sure as if she were a tangible person, inches away from me.

But I'm scared to look.

"Hi, One," I whisper. The breeze comes again, blowing strands of hair into my face, dancing across across my skin.

"I miss you," I undertone to the waves. The water laps against my ankles.

I run both hands through my hair, staring at my feet. "It's still hard you know," I look to the sky again, like the stars will spell out a message from her. "Moving on. It's probably been a year by now, I don't know. Days are hard." I sigh. "But it still feels like yesterday. It's still so hard to forget you."

The waves say nothing, rhythmically beating against the shore, against me. The stars are just as silent.

"I still love you, you know." My fingers drift to the sand below me. "I still remember what you said to me. That if you'd lived I really would have loved you." I scoop up a handful of sand, watching it slip through my fingers. "I _do_ really love you, One."

"It gets harder everyday." The palm trees rustle in the wind. "I pretend you're still here sometimes, did you know that? I think about what you'd say if you were still in my head. It helps, but sometimes I forget the way you say certain words or the sound of your voice and it terrifies me." A lump forms in my throat. "My one job is to remember you and sometimes I'm scared I can't even do that."

I wish she was with me, right now. Not just for the obvious reasons. Because she would know exactly what to say, right now, to make it better.

I sigh, and the wind carries it away from me. "I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I helped the Garde. I saved the world from my own race. I fulfilled my purpose." There's a distant sound of laughter from the fire. "But I still don't know what to do without you sometimes." I still don't know if this is still where I'm supposed to be.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to go back to Lorien with the Garde. I don't have a Chest. I don't even have your Chest. I don't have anything to offer anymore." I pull my knees up to my chest. "Sometimes I think that I was supposed to die before now. I helped the Garde save the world; that was my purpose. What am I supposed to do now that I've fulfilled it?"

Sam's laughter drifts back to me, and the sound of Sarah giggling.

_"If they can go to Lorien, so can you._" One's voice says in my head -but it's an echo; it's made-up.

"It isn't over yet, Adam." She says. I can't picture her face with any clarity when I close my eyes, but the way she says "Adam" in my mind is so sharp in my head it feels real. "Happily ever after is just beginning."

"Thanks, One." I say, eyes still closed, even though I'm thanking a recording rather than the real her.

"_Let me go_," I think I hear. "_Let me go, Adam. Move on._" The wind brushes against my face like a caress.

"I love you,"

For a moment, the feeling of her hand in mine is so strong I think it's real.

I hold on until it fades. Then I stand up, and open my eyes.

"I love you too."

I go back to the warmth of the fire, to my new family, to my future.


End file.
